


Esse Maior (Be Greater)

by boyo44



Series: MCU Spider-Man PS4 Rewrite [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Video Game 2018), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Adult Peter Parker, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Civil War Fix-It, Civil War Neutral, Established Relationship, Fix-It, Gen, Minor Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-09-27 01:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17152514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boyo44/pseuds/boyo44
Summary: “Hey MJ. Guess who just walked out of my dorm room?”“Not Felicia Hardy, I hope.” The scorn in MJ’s voice was less than subtle.“What? Nonono, I haven’t talked to her in months,” Peter replied, “No, Tony Stark just walked out of my room and I am ever so slightlyfreaking the fuck out!”~~~~~~~~An extensive rewrite of Spider-Man's place in the MCU inserting PS4 Spider-Man canon. Starts in 2016 with a rewrite of Civil War.





	1. Recruitment

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I have.. numerous grievances with Spider-Man in the MCU, a lot of them thanks to Homecoming. So when Spider-Man PS4 came out and was everything I wanted Spider-Man in the MCU to be, I fell in love. Thus, instead of being bitter I decided to get off my arse and do a rewrite. This fic will be part of a series spanning Civil War, an adaptation of Homecoming, a novelization of Spider-Man PS4 with adjustments for the MCU, and Infinity War. It might go on hiatus when I get to the end of Infinity War depending on if Endgame has released yet, though me getting to the end of Infinity War by April is... unlikely.
> 
> I've tried to make this as beginner-friendly as possible for those not unfamiliar with Spider-Man PS4 canon, but I'd highly recommend either playing the game or watching it on YouTube, it's fucking fantastic. If you don't do that, I think this should be all the changes you need to know.
> 
> Peter's 21 years old here and studying Biology at the fictional Empire State University. He's been Spider-Man for six years and has taken down multiple supervillains, including Electro, Scorpion, and Rhino. One change I'm making from PS4 canon for this is he hasn't faced the Vulture yet, since MCU Vulture doesn't come into Spider-Man's rogue's gallery until late 2016/early 2017 depending on your timeline. He's known Mary Jane since middle school and she was his best friend. They started dating in college. He's known Harry since high school, and they're very close. Flash he had a mutual antagonism with throughout middle and high school, but they made up when they both entered ESU and are tentative friends.
> 
> Mary Jane is 21, same as Peter. She's the only person who knows about his being Spider-Man, and was inspired by his heroism to pursue a career in investigative journalism. She's currently interning at the Daily Bugle, Peter's former workplace. She's determined, capable, and kind, but has a fiery temper.
> 
> Harry's, you guessed it, 21. In the PS4-verse, his mother lived until at least when Harry was in high school. As a result Harry's following in her footsteps and is studying to become an environmental lawyer. His relationship with his father frosted over after Emily's death and even moreso after Norman was elected Mayor of New York.
> 
> Flash is 22, a year older than the rest of the gang, and is drifting between jobs. He's planning to enlist into the Army.

“I have an idea.”  
  
“So do I. Where’s yours?”  
  
“Downstairs. Why, where’s yours?”

* * *

Tony felt another twinge of pain go up his left arm as he waited for the elevator to arrive at the fourth floor. _Apparently ESU can’t pay for decent elevators in their dorms._ The elevator gave a soft ding as the doors opened with a grating crunch. Tony stepped out and ignored the gobsmacked looks on the faces of the students he passed. He had shit to do, and contrary to popular belief he was entirely capable of focusing on a goal once he set his mind to it. He glanced at the numbers on the doors as he walked down the hallway, looking for a specific room. _AF15, AF15. Weird numbering system, but hey, whatever works._ His eyes caught a door a few seconds later, a metal plate identifying the room as AF15.

He twisted the doorknob and let himself in, taking a moment to absorb his surroundings. The room was tiny, barely eight feet wide and only about twelve feet long. The majority of the space was taken up by a single bed crammed into the corner with a plain bedspread on top of it. A wooden desk sat in the other corner, covered in a messy array of sheets of paper and notebooks. A small shelf on the desk held what looked like textbooks, but Tony’s eye caught on a suspiciously shiny volume. He walked to the desk and gave it a brief tap, confirming it as plastic. _There’s the real information._ The window at the back was closed, but the latch looked well-worn, as if it had been opened and closed multiple times a day every day. He’d hacked into the kid’s class schedule when he was on his way back to New York, so he knew he only had a few minutes to wait. Tony sat down on the bed and waited.

Five minutes later the door let out a creak as it was pushed in. Tony locked his phone and slid into his pocket, devoting his full attention to the young man walking into the room.

* * *

Peter Parker walked into his dorm room at four o’clock on a Tuesday ready to sit down and get ready to go on patrol when he saw the person sitting on his bed and felt the division between his two worlds crack. Tony Stark stood up and gestured for Peter to come in - _hey, this is_ my _room!_ \- and stuck his hand out to shake. “Hi. You know who I am.”

Peter swallowed and took Stark’s hand. “Uh, ye-yeah. I’m Peter.” he stuttered out.

Stark shook his hand limply - _was that a grimace?_ \- and said, “You might want to lock your door. We’ll be discussing something in common, if you catch my drift.”  
  
_Something in common? Oh. Shit._ Peter stuck his head out into the hall and made sure Harry, Flash, or MJ weren’t waiting for him before shutting his door. A quick glance either way showed the corridor devoid of anyone he knew. He pulled his head back and shut the door. Turning to face Stark, he asked, “So, what’s happening? Why are you here? I-I’m not sure what we could have in common, honestly.”

Stark snorted then stuck his hand into his pocket, pulling out a pane of glass. He tapped it - _holy shit, that’s a_ phone?! _Mine can barely run Tetris!_ \- and opened what looked like surveillance footage. He flicked his hand and a hologram appeared on the side wall showing the footage playing out. On it, a man seeming surrounded by lightning flew around the skies of Manhattan, randomly discharging electricity at the ground. A figure in a red and blue skin-tight costume pulled itself up on white cables, delivering a swift punch to the side of the man surrounded by lightning’s head. The man doubled over, and the figure in the costume shot more cables out of his wrists, binding the man in white webs. Stark turned to Peter after the footage ended and stated, “That’s you, right?”

Peter jerked out of the memory - Electro had just gotten his powers and was trying to figure them out, so Spider-Man skipped gym to help him. Unfortunately, as soon as he got to grips with them, Electro decided to hold up a store. Spider-Man was forced to stop him. - and spun to face Stark. “Wha- I don’t- what? Where’d you even- What?”

Stark gave Peter his most unimpressed impression and stepped over to his desk. Peter gave protest as Stark grabbed the fake book cover he’d been using to hide his Spider-Man notebook and flipped it open. Stark paged through the front of the notebook, and when he looked up again his face looked a hint impressed. “These designs are.. fascinating,” he said, “Where’d you get the ideas? Do you have the ideas or do you have a tech guy?”

_Goddamit. May as well see what he’s here for._ Peter let out a defeated sigh and replied, “All me. Occasionally my girlfriend has a few ideas but I design and build them all.” MJ had thought of the transceiver in the side of the mask when they were seventeen and Peter couldn’t contact her after getting stabbed and needing help. Needless to say he hadn’t delayed before making the addition. Looking Stark in the eye, Peter cut to the chase. “Is this about the Accords?”

Stark blinked, surprise rippling across his face for a second before he schooled his expression back to neutral. “Yes, actually. I need your help, your skillset. You ever been to Germany?”

“I’ve never left New York tri-state. What do you need a vigilante’s help for?” Peter said, “And if you want someone to make the Accords more palatable, I hear Daredevil’s in touch with a good law firm.”

Stark shrugged. “That webbing. Judging by these designs it’s not biological. What’s the tensile strength?” Peter let the abrupt subject change drop and raised his eyebrow.

“Around the same as a spider’s natural webbing. What do you need it for? And you still haven’t answered my question properly.”

Stark sighed and answered “Captain America and Falcon have gone rogue. You’ve heard of the Winter Soldier, right? They’re helping him evade custody. Apparently he’s Cap’s old war buddy James Barnes-” Peter cut him off.

“Wait, you’re telling me the Winter Soldier, the guy who helped blow up a bridge in DC and has been an internet rumor since dial-up was a thing is _Bucky goddamn Barnes?_ What the hell happened?”

“We don’t know for sure, but apparently HYDRA - you’ve read a history book, right? You know what HYDRA is - nabbed him after he quote-unquote ‘died’ in World War Two and injected him with a knockoff Super Soldier Serum, then brainwashed him into becoming their prime assassin. They’ve been pulling him in and out of cryogenic sleep between missions supposedly. What we do know for certain is that a security camera captured him planting a bomb in Vienna.”

Peter took a second to imagine it - having everything about him wiped away and forced to murder untold amounts of people - before yanking himself out of the idea before it got too macabre. “So you want my help to bring them in. What’d happen to Barnes?”

“Assuming he pleads innocent by way of temporary insanity - which wouldn’t be hard to prove - he’d probably go to a secure facility for treatment.”

Peter could agree with that. “Okay. But I have terms. That indefinite detention clause in the Sokovia Accords? That needs to go. That’s non-negotiable. It’s inhumane, it’s barbaric. The tracking bracelets as well.”

Surprise passed over Stark’s features again. “That’s quite specific. When did you think of all that?” he inquired.

“My girlfriend and I went over the Accords when they were put up on the UN website last year,” Peter responded, “I’m okay with Enhanced people taking responsibility for themselves, but some of the things added after Sokovia and Ultron were outright medieval.”

Stark could apparently only nod. “People were.. afraid. Sokovia was a wake-up call. We couldn’t just stick our heads in the sand anymore. You can thank Thunderbolt Ross for some of that fear, the asshole.” Resentment had crept into his tone in the last sentence.

Peter thought for a second. _I need a second opinion. MJ’s class finished before mine, I can probably call her._ “Okay. Get out, I need to make a phone call.” he said.

Stark nodded and left the room, shutting the door quietly. Peter’s Spider-Sense didn’t react, so he didn’t seem to be eavesdropping. He pulled out his phone - an old beat-up Samsung - and called MJ.  
  
_Ring_

_Ring_

_Click_  

_“Hello?”_

“Hey MJ. Guess who just walked out of my dorm room?”

_“Not Felicia Hardy, I hope.”_ The scorn in MJ’s voice was less than subtle.

“What? Nonono, I haven’t talked to her in months,” Peter replied, “No, Tony Stark just walked out of my room and I am ever so slightly _freaking the fuck out!_ ”

_“Whoa, Tiger, calm down. What did he want to talk about? I’m hoping you’ve somehow caught his attention for SI but-”_ MJ was cut off by a slightly hysterical laugh.

“Tha-that would have been nice, but no. He apparently knows about my second job, and wants to ship me off to Germany to help arrest Captain America,” Peter started to babble in panic, “ _Dear God what the hell do I do?!_ ”

MJ took a second to reply before saying, _“I think you should do it. He’s got you in a tough spot but you can use this. Making alliances with big time heroes could be very beneficial.”_ Peter couldn’t see her face right now, but he could imagine it - her brow would be creased, her ice-blue eyes narrowing like they always did when she concentrated.

_That’s a good idea. Making alliances and forcing changes to the Accords. Yeah. I can do that._ “Thanks, MJ. I guess I’m off to Germany now. Tell Harry and Flash I’m sick or something if they ask.” Peter said.

_“Sure.”_ MJ was silent for a second, before suddenly speaking up again. _“Wait! Tell him he has to give me an interview!”_

Peter laughed, the tension slowly seeping out of him. “Okay, MJ. Thanks for this. I love you.”

_“I love you too. Go get ‘em, Tiger.”_ She giggled before hanging up. Peter slipped his phone back into his pocket before turning to open the door.

* * *

 Tony was just starting to get impatient when he heard the door behind him click and swing open. The Parker kid seemed more confident than before. Maybe that girlfriend of his - _what was her name, Martha Joan?_ \- gave a hell of a pep talk. Tony still had one more question though. He fixed the young man before him with a heavy gaze and asked, “One last question. What’s your MO? Why do you do this?”

Parker stopped for a second, his face passing over multiple emotions in seconds - confusion, anger, what looked like a buried sadness, before settling on determination. He took a breath in before replying, “I was raised by my aunt and uncle. They’re the best family a guy could ask for, kind and nurturing. My aunt helps run the F.E.A.S.T. shelter in Chinatown. Anyway, I was around fifteen when I first got my powers. They... brought out the worst in me at the start. I was angry and resentful at the world, and I told the whole place to go to hell except for my aunt and uncle. One night, some petty thief shot my uncle. He died in my arms,” the kid was getting alarmingly emotional, “and I could have stopped it. But I didn’t. So I have to atone for that. My uncle, he said something that night. Apparently it was something my father said, but I’m not sure. Anyway, my uncle said that ‘If you can do good things for other people, you have a moral obligation to do those things. Not a choice, but a responsibility.’. I have these powers, I have a responsibility to use them for good. That’s why I do what I do.” Parker’s voice had regained its strength by the end, and he was glaring at Tony with an all-too-familiar righteousness in his eyes. Tony was about to say something when the kid cut him off again. “I’ll do it. I’ll come with you. But you have to change the Accords. I won’t sign unless those changes are made. Also my girlfriend wants an interview.”

Tony snorted and nodded. “All right, Spider-Man,” he said, “grab your equipment and come on.”


	2. Leipzig

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _That kind of self-sacrificial mentality was impossible to avoid when you devoted your life to helping people. Peter at least had Aunt May, Harry, and MJ to pull him back if he got too morose - who, he wondered, did Captain America have outside of his team?_

“Steve, you know what’s about to happen.” The Black Widow said, “Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?” Her tone was clinical, but had a hint of melancholy behind it. The sentences lingered in the air, demanding an answer silently.

Stark appeared to not want to respond. “All right,” he said impatiently, “I’ve run out of patience. Webs!”

_That’s the signal. Go time._ Peter flung himself into the open, quickly yanking Captain America’s shield out of his hands and then binding them together. He landed in a three-point crouch before narrowing his eyes at the scene before him. _Something’s still triggering my Spider-Sense. Hard._ Stark continued on, oblivious. “Nice job, kid.”

“Thank you.” Peter turned his attention to Captain America. “Captain Rogers. Good to meet you.” He apparently adapted quickly, because all he gave by way of a greeting was a nod.

“You’ve been busy.” The shield’s owner’s words were only vaguely interested, as if he was only making small talk he really didn’t want to be.

Stark turned away from Peter to glare at Captain America, anger in his tone as he said, “And you’ve been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint, ‘rescuing’ Wanda from a place she doesn’t even want to leave, a safe place. I’m trying to keep-” Stark’s voice caught, grief evident in his tone before he continued, “I’m trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart.”

The Captain’s response was clipped as he said, “You did that when you signed.”

Staring at him for a moment, Stark muttered, “All right, we’re done.” Raising his voice, he angrily shouted, “You’re gonna turn Barnes over, you’re gonna come with us, _now_ , because it’s us or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite.” His voice dropped down to a near whisper as he pleaded with his (perhaps former) friend. “Come on.”

Captain America had no response. He tilted his head to the side, and Peter’s hearing picked up chatter from his earpiece but it was too faint for him to make out. “This thing is remarkably light.” Peter noted. He tossed the shield slightly to demonstrate, but paused when that made his Spider-Sense’s warnings diminish. _Shit. Something’s on the shield._ “Stark!” he called, “There’s something on here!” Peter wasted no time before flinging it away from him.

A figure in a red and black suit with a silver helmet appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the shield as it flew. At the same time, Captain America raised his hands and an arrow flew through them to break through Peter’s webbing. “I believe this is yours, Captain America.” The red-suited guy said as he passed the shield to the Captain. Everyone tensed as Stark’s helmet came back up and he turned to where the arrow had flown from.

“There’s two on the parking deck, one of ‘em’s Maximoff. I’m gonna grab her.” He blasted off before continuing on, “Rhodey, you wanna take Cap?”

War Machine seemed to have signalled in the affirmative because he made no direct reply. “I’ve got two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes.”

The Black Panther - who was apparently royalty of some kind - began to sprint towards the terminal, bloodlust and rage in his tone as he said, “Barnes is mine.”

Peter tapped his ear to activate his comm and jumped onto Stark’s frequency. “I’m gonna back up the Black Panther,” he said, ignoring the sounds of combat around him, “I can’t imagine two-versus-one-ing The Winter Soldier and Falcon is especially easy.”

“Go for it. Try to keep His Pantheriness from murdering anyone, capiche?” Stark’s voice was strained.

“Sure.” Peter shot a web at the terminal and yanked himself to the window, crawling around the outside. He heard punches and kicks from below him as he moved. When he glanced down, he saw Captain America and the Black Panther engaged in hand-to-hand.

Once the Winter Soldier and Falcon started to slow he swung around and smashed through the window, delivering a kick to Falcon’s gut and knocking him down. His Spider-Sense flashed at the back of his neck and he whirled just in time to catch the Winter Soldier’s punch. The arm that Peter was currently holding back glistened in the artificial light from above and the Winter Soldier’s expression morphed to confusion. _So he’s never met anyone who can match his strength. Good to know._ Peter started to raise his arm to put his opponent into a hold, but before he could Falcon rammed into his side. Peter mentally shoved aside the harsh flash of pain and grabbed onto his attacker and started to grapple with him. “You have the right to remain silent!” he quipped. Falcon’s face stayed stony serious. _Not much of a sense of humor. That’s gonna make this harder._ Falcon’s movement was too erratic for Peter to be able to get a clear shot at him, so Peter jumped off him, then began to web himself along the ceiling. Falcon kept diverting his path along the ceiling, forcing Peter to land on a strut to reorient himself. That was apparently a mistake, as Falcon turned onto his back and fired some kind of explosive. The heat licked at Peter’s soles as he launched himself forward onto the next strut.

He barely had half a second before his Spider-Sense spiked again and he dropped his head as chunk of debris flew past him. He flung his wrist out and tapped his fingers to grab it with his webs and quickly ran the calculations to fling it back. As he did, he reflexively quipped, “You are resisting arrest!” Silence was his only reply as he threw the debris back, giving him all he needed to know about these enemies. _Won’t laugh. Not great, but I can work with it._ Pain suddenly spread up his side as his other opponent hit him with a flying kick. Peter flew back before pulling himself up to the ceiling, whirling around, and delivering a quick web shot to Falcon’s engines. They sputtered and died, dropping him into a glass structure. He rolled in front of a balcony and attempted to get up, but Peter managed to web both of his hands to the glass as he flew through the air before attaching himself to a nearby pillar. He had a few questions to ask, starting with, “Those wings carbon fibre?”

Falcon ignored him, looking down at his hands and bemusedly asking, “Is this stuff coming out of you?”

Peter ignored him back and continued, “That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio. Can we talk design details later? Those things are awesome.” He was genuinely curious. Maybe Stark had some schematics he could pore over.

Falcon finally looked up at him when he finished talking. “I don’t know if you’ve been in a fight before,” he said, derision evident in his tone, “but there’s usually not this much talking.”

“I’ve been fighting for six years, actually. Besides, my jokes are a gift to all who hear them.” That wasn’t the whole truth. _There’s a reason I tell jokes. It calms me. It calms civilians. And it rattles opponents. And when they laugh, their cheeks rise, their eyes squint, and their vision is impaired. Their head tilts back, and makes their neck an easy target._

Peter yanked himself out of his thoughts when he saw the Winter Soldier start running towards Falcon. He pulled himself up to the ceiling and kicked into the balcony, sending Falcon and the Winter Soldier sailing into the ground. A few quick shots from his web shooter and he had the Winter Soldier’s arms bound to the ground and Falcon’s body wrapped in webs. “Look, I’d love to keep going, I feel like we’re building a real emotional connection here today, but I’ve gotta go deal with the rest of you.” Peter stretched out his hand to fire his webs again when his Spider-Sense flared back up and a cable attached to his wrist. He barely had a second to eke out a confused “What the-” before he was yanked out of the terminal through the ceiling. The cable seemed to be attached to a drone with red markings. It pulled Peter a good distance away from the fight, far enough that it would take at least a minute to swing back.

* * *

As he began to swing back he took stock of what he could see of the battle. War Machine and Black Panther were fighting Captain America, all three fairly evenly matched. Black Widow was running to join her teammates when the red-and-black-suit guy appeared next to the Captain and threw something at their opponents. An instant later a truck appeared and detonated into an explosion, bathing War Machine in flames. Apparently new orders came through as Iron Man landed and spoke with the Widow and War Machine. Peter was nearly back to the fight when Captain America’s team were halted by a yellow beam striking at the ground from a floating figure in the sky. The Vision appeared to give the Captain a few words before floating down. Peter finally swung in to join the rest of Team Iron Man, and both teams faced each other. The tension in the air hung like fog, clouding everyone’s eyes.

Falcon spoke up, asking, “What do we do, Cap?”

Captain America didn’t take long to answer, righteousness and resolve in his voice as he said, “We fight.”

Both teams started to advance at that. “This is gonna end well…” Black Widow muttered sarcastically. Team Captain America sped up, and Peter’s side returned in kind. Iron Man and War Machine blasted off, Falcon unfolded his wings, and Scarlet Witch shoved herself off the ground with a burst of red energy. As both sides began to fight Peter pulled back to try and find an opening. The Scarlet Witch was hanging back and flinging cars at her opponents. He went to swing over to her, but before he could a red and blue disc sailed through his web, cutting him off.

Peter managed to course correct and landed in a crouch, Captain America standing in front of him. The shield jerked in midair and flew back to the Captain’s wrist, seemingly with no outside influence. “How does that thing even work?!” Peter asked, flabbergasted.

Captain America ignored him and said, “Look kid, there’s a lot going on here that you don’t understand.” His tone was somewhat dismissive, if a little pleading.

“Pretty sure I understand the situation just fine.” Peter rose and fired two webs, one grabbing onto his opponent’s shield when he attempted to block and the other to his back foot. “I’m also pretty sure I understand you.” He yanked his arms back before letting go and using another pair of webs to pull himself further along, delivering a few swift kicks to the Captain, but they seemingly did nothing. “You know, that shield seems to have a glaring, leg-shaped weakness.” Captain America straightened up and made a dash for the shield, and Peter instinctively webbed his arms. The Captain anticipated the maneuver and tried to pull Peter using his own webs into a kick. Luckily, Peter’s Spider-Sense kicked in and he managed to yank himself downwards and between the Captain’s legs before the kick could land. Unfortunately, the slide gave Peter’s opponent enough time to grab the shield and reorient himself.

_This isn’t working. I need an advantage or else we’ll be here forever._

Peter yanked himself up onto an airbridge to get higher ground. The Captain stood there and asked, this time flatly, “You think you’ve got me figured out?”

“You know you’re doing the wrong thing in the eyes of the law. You don’t care. You think it’s acceptable for you to go to prison once the world is saved.” It hadn’t been hard to figure out. That kind of self-sacrificial mentality was impossible to avoid when you devoted your life to helping people. Peter at least had Aunt May, Harry, and MJ to pull him back if he got too morose - who, he wondered, did Captain America have outside of his team? The last part was the most important one, though. “You’ve forgotten what it means to be a figurehead, a symbol. You’ve forgotten the responsibility you took.” And that, Peter couldn’t stand for. He knew he wasn’t perfect. He had a hell of a temper, and he could be stiflingly protective - or so MJ said. But he always took the responsibility to be better, to rise above that. Anyone who couldn’t do that wasn’t worthy of any power they had.

Captain America’s eyes flashed, and he seemed to stop for a second - _Perfect._ Peter leapt backwards and flung himself around the bottom of the airbridge, but he was too hasty. His only warning was a sharp spike of his Spider-Sense before Captain America kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying into a support strut for the bridge - _Crap, he played me._ The Captain hurled his shield forward, weakening the other support struts and forcing Peter to hold the majority of the weight. He was pinned down, unable to do nothing but watch as Captain America grabbed his shield out of midair again and turned to face him. “You got heart,” the Captain said, a hint of respect finally present in his tone, “Where’re you from?”

_No point in lying._ “Queens.”

Captain America seemed to consider that for a second, before nodding and replying, “Brooklyn.”

* * *

 It took a minute to get out from under the metal crushing down on Peter, but one last lift and he was able to slip out. As he did, Falcon and War Machine whistled by in front of him. Peter strained his hearing and managed to pick up a few words.

_“Diversion-”_

_“Something big-”_

_They’re planning something. Better warn the others._

Peter reached up to his ear to activate his comm, but just as he did the red-and-black suit guy appeared out of nowhere again, this time absolutely massive and holding War Machine in his hand. Iron Man was about to turn to face it, but Peter tapped his ear and shouted out, “It’s a distraction! They must be running a sacrifice play!”

Unfortunately, Stark didn’t seem to be in the mood to listen. He said something about “giving back his Rhodey”, which Peter _really_ didn’t want to read into, and went to fly at the giant man. Before he could, Falcon slammed into his side in a dive kick, and they engaged in an aerial dogfight. The giant man flung War Machine away, and Peter leapt after him to grab him. One web and a toppled truck later, War Machine was back in the air and assessing the situation.

“Spider-Man, you don’t have enough firepower to deal with this guy. Pursue Barnes and Rogers. Vision, you’re our hardest hitter, we need you to help get _him_ back down to size.” War Machine’s tone brooked no argument, so Peter just sent a brief affirmative before launching himself after the fleeing Captain America and Winter Soldier.

As he swung, he saw Black Panther knock down Hawkeye and start running beneath him. He clearly had enhanced speed as well as strength, since he was able to outstrip Peter’s usually pretty damn fast webslinging. A few seconds later, a yellow beam scythed through the air from behind Peter and sheared off the base of the control tower next to the hangar containing the Quinjet - evidently the Vision’s attempt at blocking Captain America and the Winter Soldier. It didn’t work. A barrier of the Scarlet Witch’s telekinetic power held most of the debris up before it could cover the entrance, giving the soldiers just enough time to duck underneath and Black Panther enough time to crawl. It only took a few seconds for Peter to swing the remaining distance to the hangar and inside, but seemingly a lot had happened, as the soldiers were brazenly running past the Black Widow, who was electrocuting her own teammate. A quick web to face distracted her long enough for Black Panther to get up and start attacking her, his strikes rough and angry against her measured and dance-like strokes. As that happened, the Quinjet started to lift off. Peter shot a web at the bottom and stuck there, clinging on for dear life against the engine draft. Black Panther managed to knock down Black Widow in time to make a desperate running jump for the Quinjet’s undercarriage, but it sealed up before he could. As it cleared the airport, War Machine and Iron Man flew up in pursuit, but before they could catch up War Machine was clipped by one of Vision’s blasts and he fell out of the sky. Peter could only sit there, clinging on for dear life as the ground faded below him and the air began to cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry this took a while. I was hoping to get this done before I left on holiday, but as you can see that didn't happen. I'm not totally happy with this chapter, but that's just because I hate writing action.


	3. Siberia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Attaching himself to an only-slightly-subsonic jet was not Peter’s greatest life decision, he decided._

Attaching himself to an only-slightly-subsonic jet was not Peter’s greatest life decision, he decided. There were a few worse ones - not stopping the thief, for one - but this one was certainly up there. He’d managed to climb up to the top of the Quinjet behind the raised cockpit section, so he was slightly sheltered from the wind, but it didn’t do much. The oppressive cold sank right into Peter’s bones, straight past the thin padding he had in his suit for the winter, slowing his mind and making him sluggish. The spider bite had lowered his regular body temperature already, so the cold was even worse than it would be for a normal human. His suit’s electronics had frozen over, so he had no way to contact anyone. All he could do was sit and think.

What he was going to do when the jet landed occupied most of Peter’s thoughts. He’d overheard Captain America talking about more Winter Soldiers in Siberia at the airport, so he’d have to somehow help with that. He doubted Captain America would exactly be receptive, but he’d just have to get over it.  _ Not like he has much of a choice _ . Barnes hadn’t exactly seemed fully aware of what was happening at the airport, so he’d probably be at least neutral.

Peter was ruminating further when his Spider-Sense pulsed. It wasn’t a full blast, so he probably wasn’t in immediate danger, but Peter looked around quickly all the same. Scanning around the cold grey clouds didn’t yield much, but he was just passing his eyes between the Quinjet’s tail fins when his Spider-Sense sharpened. He narrowed his eyes and carefully raked his eyes over the area framed between the fins until he spotted something. The sky seemed to ripple around a distortion almost directly behind the jet. Throwing caution to the wind, Peter raised his left wrist and fired a web at the distortion. It was difficult to make out, but after a couple of hundred feet it hit something and floated in the air. The distortion flickered for barely a second, but Peter was just able to see what looked like another jet.  _ Must be some high-tech stuff. Better keep my eye on that. _

As he slowly relaxed his muscles, the rotors in the Quinjet’s wings started to turn and the jet slowed. Peter quickly pressed himself behind the cockpit and got ready to move. His suit electronics were still frozen over for the most part, but as the air warmed ever-so-slightly his comm let out a sharp beep as it reactivated. Peter tapped in the code to send his location to MJ - somebody needed to know where he was - then muted it.

It was time to move.

* * *

 

The jet landed near a nondescript rock formation with a rusty door in the side. Peter crawled to the back of the jet’s roof and waited for Barnes and Rogers to leave. After a minute or so they walked out in full gear, walked over to the door, and crept in. Peter was about to jump down when his Spider-Sense pulsed again. To his left, another aircraft touched down. It was the same jet that had tailed Rogers and Barnes. It was sleek and small, clearly designed for one occupant. The wings were small and rectangular, to the point Peter had no idea how the thing flew. When it finished landing, the cockpit opened and an unmasked Black Panther stepped out. He walked a few steps before turning his head and looking straight at Peter.

" Are you going to come down?” Black Panther asked. Without the chaos of the airport it was easier to analyze the voice. It was regal, with a heavy East African accent. The words were pronounced perfectly, to the point it was obvious the speaker had been learning English for a long time. Peter nodded and jumped down. Black Panther regarded him silently for a moment before nodding. “I am going to follow them inside.” Black Panther said. “Join me if you wish.”

Peter nodded in assent. Black Panther turned around and started walking towards the door. Peter followed, staying a few steps behind. He wasn’t even close to trusting Black Panther yet, and the feeling was clearly mutual.

* * *

The bunker wasn’t much warmer than outside. The inside made it even more obvious it had been abandoned for at least a decade, probably longer. Any standing water had long since frozen over, and the lights that weren’t dead were flickering heavily. It wasn’t hard to tail Rogers and Barnes - they hadn’t exactly opted for subtlety once it was clear the place was deserted. Peter crawled on the wall, keeping himself out of as many sightlines as he could. His Spider-Sense was constantly thrumming in the background, sharpening his perception and making him jittery. The Black Panther didn’t seem to have a similar problem, creeping along the ground silently. Peter idly wondered if he and Felicia would get along - it seemed they were both cat people.

They were following Rogers and Barnes’ trail when Peter heard snippets of words coming from ahead. Black Panther heard them as well if they way he stopped and twitched his head was any indication.

_ “-ood to see you, T-” _

_ -“ey, Manchurian-.” _

Peter had started to crawl forward again when the Black Panther spoke. “Look to your left. That door is unlocked.” Peter glanced that way, and sure enough it was. “I will go down that path. You follow Rogers and Barnes.” Peter nodded, and started to crawl faster.

A few minutes and doorways later, Peter spotted Rogers and Barnes properly. They were standing next to an unmasked Tony Stark -  _ when the hell’d he get here?  _ \- and looking through a small window on the other side of the room. Peter crawled up the side of the wall and hid himself in the shadow of one of the massive pillars above some glowing yellow tank. He squinted his eyes and looked at the back of Rogers’ head, seeing the top of another head but not much else.  _ That must be who BP followed. _

A screen on a nearby terminal flickered on with Cyrillic text on it.  _ 16 something 1991.  _ A voice spoke, presumably from the window. “An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again. But one that falls from within? That’s dead. Forever.” A video started playing on the screen. It looked like old surveillance footage - the bottom red DEC 16 1991.

“I know that road.” Stark’s voice was suspicious and flinty. “What is this?” The man behind the glass said nothing, simply staring back and letting the video play.

* * *

 

“Don’t bullshit me, Rogers. Did. You. Know?”

“..Yes.”

* * *

The fight was insane. Peter was forced to stay on the walls, too much debris flying through the air for him to get a clean jump into the fight. He tried to crawl over to the window where the guy had been, but it was empty. When he turned around he saw Stark and Rogers fall down the silo, Barnes not far behind. Seeing his chance, he ran over and jumped down the pit.

When he landed, Rogers was on the ground and Barnes was falling back from a blast delivered by Stark’s reactor. Seeing his chance, Peter fired 3 maximum strength webs, holding down Barnes, Rogers, and Stark. “Stop! Just stop!” Peter yelled, catching the attention of the other men. “For the love of all that’s holy,  _ stop! _ ” Barnes and Rogers looked at him in shock. Stark’s face was unreadable beneath the metal of the Iron Man helmet. “That’s enough! Don’t you see you’re being played?! All of you!”

“I don’t care!” Stark’s voice was indescribably furious. “Get out of here, kid!” He started to tear himself free of the webs, but Peter just fired more. “What the hell is this stuff made of?!”

“You can’t do this! You’re angry, I get it,  _ trust me I get it _ , but you don’t get to kill him! You don’t have that right!” Peter yelled back, trying to ignore his Spider-Sense’s shrieking to  _ get the hell away _ .

“Who… who are you?” Barnes said, confusion evident in his tone, “How did you get here?”

Peter shook his head and said, “Not important right now. All of you need to stay the hell down.”

“Butt out, kid! This is between me and them!” Stark was yelling again. His helmet had retracted and even through the bruising his rage was evident on his features.

“You’re  _ heroes! _ You and Rogers, you’re trailblazers, icons! You can’t destroy each other like this!” Peter turned to face Rogers, “Are you going to be the hero who tried to kill one of his own?” then Stark, “Are you going to be the hero who murdered an innocent soldier? You have your powers, your gifts, and they’re wonderful! Best things in the world! But you have the responsibility that comes with them! You have to be good, you have to be great! I’m not saying you can’t be human, but not like this! You don’t get to throw away everything important about what you represent, no matter what!”

The room stood still. The very air seemed to hold its breath. Peter panted behind the mask, gulping in the freezing Arctic air.

“Get them out of here. Before I change my mind.” Stark voice was taut with barely suppressed emotion. Peter shook himself and ran forward, grabbing the web dissolution spray off his webshooter. He melted the webs on Barnes and Rogers, who were still frozen.

Peter took another breath and said, “Get up to your plane. Black Panther followed you here, he can help Barnes.”  Rogers nodded and started walking away, Barnes’s remaining arm around his shoulders. Peter turned his attention to Stark, who was watching them walk away. Stark turned his head in response, staring at Peter. His expression was inscrutable, but he had stopped struggling. “You, uh,” Peter started to ask, “You got some kind of distress beacon?”

Stark laughed hollowly. “You’re impossible, kid.”

* * *

 

_ Tony, _

_ I’m glad you’re back at the compound, I don’t like the idea of you rattling around a mansion by yourself. We all need family. The Avengers are yours, maybe more so than mine. I’ve been on my own since I was 18. I never really fit in anywhere – even in the Army. My faith is in people, I guess. Individuals. And I’m happy to say for the most part, they haven’t let me down. Which is why I can’t let them down either. Locks can be replaced, but – maybe they shouldn’t. I know I hurt you Tony. I guess I thought – by not telling you about your parents I was sparing you, but… I can see now I was really sparing myself. I’m sorry. Hopefully one day you can understand. I wish we agreed on the Accords, I really do. I know you were only doing what you believe in, and that’s all any of us can do, it’s all any of us should. So no matter what, I promise if you -- if you need us. If you need me, I’ll be there. _

_ Steve _

_ P.S. Thank the guy in the red and blue for us, would you? I think things could have gone a lot worse if he wasn’t there. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the delay. School started back up again in February but that's not much of an excuse. In any case, this chapter concludes the first part of this rewrite. I like this chapter a lot, especially the speech Peter gives.
> 
> Next part won't be out for a while as I want to get a chapter out for What's Past is Prologue and I have a bunch of assignments coming up, but next up in the rewrite will be an abridged take on Homecoming.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated! Updates and other things will be posted on my [tumblr.](https://boyo44-ao3.tumblr.com/)


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